Formation of packages



Jan. 19, 1965 P. F. cox 3,165,869

FORMATION OF PACKAGES Filed June 8, 1962 3 Sheets-Sheet l FlG.l.

1965 P. F. cox 3,165,869

FORMATION OF PACKAGES Filed June 8, 1962 5 Sheets-Sheet 2 Jan. 19, 1965 P. F. cox

FORMATION OF PACKAGES Filed June 8, 1962 3 Sheets-Sheet 3 United States Patent Office 3,165,859 Ffi-RMATIGN 6F PACKAGE Peter Frank @303, Gainsborough, England, 'assignor to Rose Brothers (Gainsborough) Limited'Gainsboro-ugh, England, a British company 7 Filed Ilene 8, i962, Ser. No. 281,176 Clo-firms priority, application Great Britain, lune r 21,9757 at 4 Claims. (Cl. 53-62) 19, rest,

This invention relates to the' formation of packages each containing a number of articles, e.g., previously wrapped sweets, the articles being placed in a tray of cardboard or other material which may subsequently be provided with an outer casing, e.g., by enveloping a wrapper of paper, f lm, foil or other wrapping matenal.

According to the present invention, packages each containing a number of articles are formed by feeding a continuous succession of articles towards a transfer station, feeding a succession of trays into position at the transfer station and, while the tray for the time being at the transfer station is at rest, transferring a given number of the leading articles into the tray, the tray being inclined towards the articles so that its edge adjacent the articles lies at or below the lower surface of the articles and forwarding the filled tray to a delivery station. A further batch of articles containing the same number may be fed on to the batch contained in the tray before the tray is forwarded to the delivery station.

In apparatus according to the invention, there is provided a band conveyor adapted to feed a continuous succession of articles towards a transfer station, a pocketed conveyor adapted to feed a succession of trays into articlereceiving position at the transfer station, a reciprocating pusher movable laterally of the band conveyor and adapted to engage a given number of articles at the leading end of the conveyor and transfer them into a waiting tray, a feeler member adapted to be engaged by the leading article on the conveyor and upon such engagement to cause actuation of the pusher, said feeler also controlling the movement of the tray conveyor, and means for ejecting the filled trays from the pocketed conveyor at a delivery station.

The feeler may be arranged so to control the pusher and the tray conveyor that a second layer of articles is transferred on to the top of the layer already in the tray.

To assist the transferring action, the pockets on the pocketed conveyor may be pivotally mounted on the conveyor and means provided for tilting the poclets successively as they arrive at the transfer station so that the edge of the tray adjacent the articles lies at or below the lower surface of the articles. With such an arrangement, an upper guide may project over the top of the articles to a point near the back edge of the tray.

The invention has been found useful in particular as applied to the formation of packages of sweets each containing a number of layers of articles, the articles first being inserted into the tray and the tray then being enveloped in a wrapper of'paper, film, foil or other wrapping material in known manner.

Such an application of the invention will now be described in greater detail with reference to the accompanying drawings in which:

FIGURE 1 is a plan view of the apparatus constructed in accordance with the invention,

FIGURE 2 is a sectional view taken on the line 2-2 in FIGURE 1, drawn to a larger scale,

FIGURE 3 is a sectional view taken on the line 33 in FIGURE 1, and

FIGUREA is a sectional view taken on the line 4-4 in FIGURE 1.

A continuous succession of wrapped sweets 11 are fed Patented Jan. 19, 1955;

band to engaging the upper surfaces of the sweets 11 onv the band 12, the band ldbeing driven through gearing 1 from the band 12. I

Arranged adjacent to and running parallel with the band 12 is a chainconveyor 13 supported on sprockets 19 driven intermittently in known manner by a shaft 21 itself driven by a one-revolution magnetic clutch unit of well known type (not shown). Pockets 22, adapted to receive trays 23, are pivotally mounted at spaced intervals on the conveyor 18, one side of each pocket 22 being mounted on a carrier 24 while the other side carries a roller 26 arranged to run in a guide track 27. Trays 23 in collapsed form are contained in a stack housed in a magazine 2.8 (see FIGURE 2) and are removed one at a time from the base of the stack by a pusher 29 mounted in a slideway 31 and reciprocated by an arm 32 pivotally mounted on a shaft 33 and carrying a roller 34 arranged to bear against the face. of a rotatable cam 36 secured to the shaft 21. The pusher 29 moves the loading edge of each tray 23 towards the nip of a pair of feed rollers 37 and 38, the roller 37 being driven by gearing 39 from the shaft 21 andthe roller 38 being spring-urged towards the roller 37. Such feeding action by the rollers 37 and 38 forwards each carton in turn along a'plate 1 towards a tray-forming station generally indicated by reference numeral 42 (see FXGURE 2). An arm 43, provided with a positioning 7 tip 44, ispivotally mounted at 45, an extension 47 of the arm d3 carrying a roller 43 arranged to bear against the face of a rotatable cam 49 secured to the shaft 21. The tip 44- serves finally to position the collapsed tray 23 over a die aperture 51 formed in the plate 41, the

- aperture 51 being arranged over a pocket 22 whilst the conveyor 15 is at rest. A plunger 52 positioned, in its inoperative position, above the aperture 51 is mounted for reciprocation on a parallel motion linkage 53 pivotally mounted in a bracket 56, the linkage 53 being connected by a link 57 to a two-armed operating lever 58, 59 pivotally mounted on the shaft 33, the lever 59 carrying a roller 69 arranged to bear against the face of a rotatable cam 61' secured to the shaft 21. Downward movement of the plunger 52 causes the tray 23 to be pushed through the aperture 51 and into a waiting pocket 22, such action causing the tray to be openedin Well known manner. After the tray 23 has been positioned in a pocket 22, and the plunger 52 retracted, the open tray 23 is moved, by the conveyor 18, firstly to an vidle station and then to the sweet transfer station 15 (see FIGURE 3). As each pocket 22 approaches this station the roller 26 leaves the guide track 27 and enters a tilting member 62 which causes the pocket 22 to pivot on the carrier 24 to tilt the pocket 22 so that the edge of the tray 23 adjacent the sweets it on the dead plate 14 lies slightly below the lower surface of the sweets 11. The member 62 carries two pairs of rollers 63 arranged to engage'a pair of stationary arcuate tracks 64 secured to the framework 66 of the apparatus and having their radii struck from the pivoted axis of the pockets 22. The tilting member 62 is actuated by a link 67 connected to a cam-operated arm (not shown) in timed relationship with the conveyor 18.

A pivoted feeler 63 is so positioned at the transfer station 15 that when a batch of six sweets 11 are positioned edge to edge on the dead plate 14 the feeler 68 is moved,

3 by the leading sweet in the batch, into operative position to actuate a micro-switch 69 which withdraws a sprag 71 to permit a pusher 72 to transfer that batch into the waiting tray 23. The pusher 72 is mounted on a parallel motion linkage 73 pivotally mounted on a shaft 74 freely mounted in a bracket 76, one arm of the linkage 73 carrying a roller 77 arranged to bear against the face of a rotatable cam 78 secured to a' cam shaft 79 adapted to rotate continuously in timed relationship with the conveyor 12. On the return stroke of the pusher 72 the linkage 73 causes the pusher 72 to pivot upwardly so as to clear the sweets 11 being fed onto the dead plate 14. To avoid the possibility of the sweets 11 becoming misplaced during their transfer into the tray 23 an upper guide plate 81 secured to the framework 66 projects over the top of the sweets 11 on the dead plate 14 to a point beyond the back edge of the tray 23 whilst side guides 82 project downwardly from the plate 81 into the tray 23 at its outer edges. .To permit the upward movement of the pusher 72 suitable slots 83 are cut in the plate 81.

The operation of the feeler 68 also withdraws a sprag 84 to permit the operation of a carrier member 85 in which are resiliently mounted six plungers 86 adapted to pass through slots 87 cut in the plate 81 to push into the tray 23 any sweet that may not have dropped right down into the tray 23. The member 85 is carried on a pair of arms 88, 89 pivotally mounted in a bracket 91, an extension 92 of the arm 89 being connected by a link 93 to a two-armed lever 94, 96, the arm 96 carrying a roller 97 arranged to bear against the face of a rotatable cam 98 secured to the shaft 79. As one batch of sweets 11 is transferred from the dead plate 14 into the tray 23 the feeler 68 returns to its inoperative position, such move ment causing the sprags 71 and 84 to arrest the operation of the mechanisms controlling operation of the pusher 72 and plungers 86. As soon as a further batch of six sweets 11 is collated on the dead plate 14 the feeler is again moved by the leading sweet 11 of the batch to permit operation of the pusher 72 and plungers 86 to transfer that hatch on to the top of the batch already positioned in the tray 23.

Each time operation of the pusher 72 takes place it operates a pawl 99 to rotate a ratchet wheel 101, the pawl 99 being mounted on a bell-crank 102, pivotally mounted on a shaft 103 itself rotatably mounted in a bracket 104, the bell-crank 102 being connected by a link 106 to an extension 107 of the linkage 73 of the pusher mechanism. Secured to the ratchet wheel 101 is a disc 108 formed with a series of projections 109 so positioned that for every two teeth on the ratchet wheel there is one projection 109 on the disc 108. An arm 111,pivoted at 112 on the bracket 104, carries a roller 113 arranged to be engaged by the projections 109, such engagement causing a rod 114 mounted on the arm 111 to actuate a micro-switch 116 to operate the one-revolution clutch unit mentioned above to rotate the shaft 21.

After two rows of sweets 11 have been transferred into the tray 23, the conveyor 18 is moved to a delivery station 117 (see FIGURE 4), where a push-up 118 lifts the filled tray 23 clear of the pocket 22 in readiness for transfer onto a platform 119. The push-up 118 is carried on a slide bar 121 itself slidably mounted between V shaped rollers 122 freely mounted on the framework 66. The slide bar 121 is connected, by a link 123, to an arm 124 pivotally mounted at 125 on a bracket 126, the arm 124 carrying a roller 127 arranged to bear against the face of a rotatable cam 128 secured to the shaft 21. As the filled tray 23 is lifted clear of the pocket 22 it is transferred on to the platform 119 by a reciprocating pusher 129 secured to an arm 130 itself mounted on a linkage 131, 132 pivotally mounted in a bracket 133, the linkage being connected by a link 134 to an arm 136 pivotally mounted at 137 in a bracket 138, the arm 136 carrying a roller 139 arranged to bear against the face of a rotatable cam 141 secured to the shaft 21. To provide for a straight line motion of the pusher 129 an extension 142 of the arm carries a roller .143 arranged to run in an arcuate track 144.

It will be seen from the above description that the feeler 68 controls the timing of the apparatus. As the first batch of sweets 11 operates the feeler 68, the pusher 72 is permitted to transfer that batch into a waiting tray, as the second batch operates the feeler 68, the pusher 72 is permitted to transfer that batch onto the first batch in the tray 23, such action also causing the micro-switch 116 to be operated to activate the one revolution clutch. This clutch rotates the shaft 21 through one complete revolution causing the pocket22 containing the filled tray at the transfer station 15 .to be lowered from its tilted position, the conveyor 18 to advance one step, a collapsed tray 23 to be withdrawn from the magazine 28, opened and transferred into a pocket 22, the empty tray in the pocket 22 at the transfer station 15 to be tilted and the filled tray at the delivery station 117 to be lifted clear of the pocket and transferred onto the platform 119.

From the platform 119;, the filled trays are collected and successively forwarded in known manner to a wrapping machine to complete the formation of the package.

I claim:

1. Apparatus for forming packages each containing a number of articles, comprising a band conveyor arranged to feed a continuous succession of articles towards a transfer station, a pocketed conveyor adapted to feed a succession of trays into article-receiving position at the transfer station, the pockets of the conveyor each "being formed in a pocket member mounted on the conveyor for pivotal movement in a direction transverse to the normal plane of the conveyor, a positioning member projecting from each pocket member, a track member extending lengthwise of the conveyor and formed with a guiding track arranged to receive said positioning members so as to locate the pocket members, a gap formed in said track member at the transfer station, an actuating block arranged in said gap and formed with an auxiliary track lying normally in line with the guiding track so as to receive the positioning member of each pocket member successively as it passes into said gap, said block being mounted for arcuate movement about an axis coincident with the pivotal axis of the pocket member at the transfer station, means for moving said block about said axis as each pocket pocket member reaches the transfer station so as to tilt the pocket member so that the edge of the tray adjacent the articles lies at or below the lower surface of the articles, a reciprocating pusher movable laterally of the band conveyor at the transfer station and adapted to engage a given. number of articles at the leading end of the conveyor and transfer them into a waiting tray, and means for ejecting the filled trays from the pocketed conveyor at a delivery station.

2. Apparatus for forming packages each containing a number of articles, comprising a band conveyor arranged to feed a continuous succession of articles towards a transfer station, a pocketed conveyor adapted to feed a succession of trays into article-receiving position at the transfer station, the pockets of the conveyor each being formed in a pocket member mounted on the conveyor for pivotal movement in a direction transverse to the normal plane of the conveyor, a positioning member projecting from each pocket member, a track member extending length- Wise of the conveyor and formed with a guiding track arranged to receive said positioning members so as to locate the pocket members, a gap formed in said track member at the transfer station, an actuating block arranged in said gap and formed with an auxiliary track lying normally in line with the guiding track so as to receive the positioning member of each pocket member successively as is passes into said gap, said block being mounted for arcuate movement about an axis coincident with the pivotal axis of the pocket member at the transfer station, means for moving said block about said axis as each pocket member reaches the transfer station so as to tilt the pocket member so that the edge of the tray adjacent the articles lies at or below the lower surface of the articles, a reciprocating pusher movable laterally of the band conveyor at the transfer station and adapted to engage a given number of articles at the leading end of the conveyor and transfer them into a waiting tray, means for ejecting the filled trays from the pocketed conveyor at a delivery station, a

and a feeler member adapted to be engaged by the leading article on the band conveyor and upon such engagement to actuate means for rendering the reciprocating pusher active.

3. Apparatus for forming packages each containing a number of articles, comprising a band conveyor arranged to feed a continuous succession ofarticles towards a transfer station, a pocketed conveyor adapted to feed a succession of trays into article-receiving position at the transfer station, the pockets of the conveyor each being formed in a pocket member mounted on the conveyor for pivotal movement in a direction transverse to the normal plane of the conveyor, a positioning member projecting from each pocket member, a track member extending lengthwise of the conveyor and formed with a guiding track arranged to receive said positioning members so as to locate the pocket members, a gap formed in said track member at the transfer station, an actuating block arranged in said gap and formed with an auxiliary track lying normally in line with the guiding track so as to receive the positioning member of each pocket member successively as it passes into said gap, said block being mounted for arcuate movement about an axis 00- incident with the pivotal axis of the pocket member at the transfer station, means for moving said block about said axis as each pocket member reaches the transfer station so as -to tilt the pocket member so that the edge of the tray adjacent the articles lies at or below the lower surface of the articles, a reciprocating pusher movable laterally of the band conveyor at the transfer station and adapted to engage a given number of articles at the leading end of the conveyor and transfer them into a waiting tray, means for ejecting the filled trays from the pocketed conveyor at a delivery station, and a feeler member adapted to be engaged by the leading article on the band conveyor and upon such engagement to actuate means for rendering the reciprocating pusher active, said feeler member also being adapted, upon such engagement, to cause operation of means for so controlling the movement of the pocketed conveyor that it moves only after every second operation of the pusher, whereby a second layer of articles is transferred to each tray at the transfer station.

4. Apparatus for forming packages each containing a number of articles, comprising a band conveyor arranged to feed a continuous succession of articles towards a transfer station, a pocketed conveyor adapted to feed a succession of trays into article-receiving position at the transfer station, the pockets of the conveyor each being formed in a pocket member mounted on the conveyor for pivotal movement in a direction transverse to the normal plane of the conveyor, a positioning member projecting from each pocket member, a track member extending lengthwise of the conveyor and formed with a guiding track arranged to receive said positioning members so as to locate the pocket members, a gap formed in said track member at the transfer station, an actuating block arranged in said gap and formed with an auxiliary track lying normally in line with the guiding track so as to receive the positioning member of each pocket member successively as it passes into said gap, said block being mounted for movement in an arcuate guiding slot having its radius struck from an axis coincident with the pivotal axis of the pocket member at the transfer station, means formoving said block about said axis as each pocket member reaches the transfer station so as to tilt the pocket member so that the edge of the tray adjacent the articles lies at or below the lower surface of the articles, a reciprocating pusher movable laterally of the band conveyor at the transfer station and adapted to engage a given number of articles at the leading end of the conveyor and transfer them into a waiting tray, and means for ejecting the filled trays from the pocketed conveyor at a delivery station.

References Cited by the Examiner UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,302,893 5/19 Bruckman 53-159X 2,952,955 9/60 Leichenich et a1. 53-61 3,018,594 1/62 Phillips et al 53-72 FOREIGN PATENTS 566,740 4/58 Belgium.

FRANK E. BAJLEY, Primary Examiner.

TRAVIS S. MCGEHEE, Examiner. 

2. APPARATUS FOR FORMING PACKAGES EACH CONTAINING A NUMBER OF ARTICLES, COMPRISING A BAND CONVEYOR ARRANGED TO FEED A CONTINUOUS SUCCESSION OF ARTICLES TOWARDS A TRANSFER STATION, A POCKETED CONVEYOR ADAPTED TO FEED A SUCCESSION OF TRAYS INTO ARTICLE-RECEIVING POSITION AT THE FORMED STATION, THE POCKETS OF THE CONVEYOR EACH BEING FORMED IN A POCKET MEMBER MOUNTED ON THE CONVEYOR FOR PIVOTAL MOVEMENT IN A DIRECTION TRANSVERSE TO THE NORMAL PLANE OF THE CONVEYOR, A POSITIONING MEMBER PROJECTING FROM EACH POCKET MEMBER, A TRACK MEMBER EXTENDING LENGTHWISE OF THE CONVEYOR AND FORMED WITH A GUIDING TRACK ARRANGED TO RECEIVE SAID POSITIONING MEMBERS SO AS TO LOCATE THE POCKET MEMBERS, A GAP FORMED IN SAID TRACK MEMBER AT THE TRANSFER STATION, AN ACTUATING BLOCK ARRANGED IN SAID GAP AND FORMED WITH AN AUXILIARY TRACK LYING NORMALLY IN LINE WITH THE GUIDING TRACK SO AS TO RECEIVE THE POSITIONING MEMBER OF EACH POCKET MEMBER SUCCESSIVELY AS IS PASSES INTO SAID GAP, SAID BLOCK BEING MOUNTED FOR ARCUATE MOVEMENT ABOUT AN AXIS COINCIDENT WITH THE PIVOTAL AXIS OF THE POCKET MEMBER AT THE TRANSFER STATION, 